Living in the past ain't so bad!!!

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Island Drive said:
I remember the place pretty well, homemade pizza, gold crowns, about 20 tables, pitcher beer/no hard liquor, and one or two 'islands' in the middle of the room for seating.

Jay, what was the name of the 'all night' place out east of LA that McCready used to play at? The owner I remember has allot of pics of himself on the wall, he was either in the Olympics or great at some sport. I used to roll in there about 1 am in my van..get some sleep..wake up a few hours later for the all night games. King Kong played there allot and the Big Ball was on the 7 footers. Bernardo taught me how to draw my ball with 3 or 9 o'clock Engles. Those were the original Hard Times Costa Mesa days eh?

The Golden Cue in El Monte.
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
Island Drive said:
Yep played in most all your above rooms at one time, also you forgot the room you/jay owned in Belmont Shores CA. Also the room in San Diego that had the red seating area and I think Swanee played out of there. There was a great room I think in OK that Buddy Hall played out of (Ames??) great burgers, tho forgot that name too, in Tampa, Jr. Golf had a joint with rubber tiled flooring and I think all Gold Crowns. There was also a great room in St. Louis where Ardell/Blackie Lasseur played out of and so many other rooms in the deep south. If we start counting the rooms in MN back in the day we can go on and on eh? Oh yeah, how about the room that was in Bellflower that eventually became the first Hard Times when it moved, I think it was up by the 90 fwy??? Time slips the mem eh?

The room in Belmont Shores was the original Yankee Doodles. I remember seeing you in there. The San Diego room was The Billiard Tavern, owned by Dick Megiveron, who occasionally posts on here. The room in Bellflower was The Billiard Palace. All the top players played in there in the 60's and 70's.
 

lunchmoney

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
punter said:
SJD, what city did you live in Texas and what was the time frame, if you don't mind telling?

Speaking of high action spots, Flyboy and a few others created some high action at Greenway Billiards in Baton Rouge in the early 90's, I believe. Fly used to have part of the Sports Palace in N.O. (Old Jefferson HWY?) too.


I used to live in Baton Rouge in the late 70's and spent thousands of hours at the Greenway. Not much to look at as far as old pool rooms go but the action was tremendous. Nothing like the Rack in Detroit, but there was a lot of cash being wagered. Hemicuda's can confirm this as he was there as well.

Lunchmoney
 

gulfportdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
Jeff Bey took it over after Arnie died and it remained there until the earthquake of 1994. After that the building was condemned and it took Jeff a few years to move over to its new location on Hollywood Blvd.
Thanks, Jay. I often wondered about the transition from Hyd & Western to the new locale.

Do you know when Tiff Payne's room, North Hollywood Billiards, closed? It was on Magnolia in N. Hyd near the freeway. It had pool and snooker in the front; 10-12 billiard tables in back.

Doc
 

catpool9

"Rack Um"/ Rusty Lock
Silver Member
Times Square

Wasn't there a pool room in Dallas,Tx, long, long time ago called "Times Square"?.....i'm 49 and to young to have ever been in that one, but seems like i've heard players talk of it.


David Harcrow
 

jay helfert

Shoot Pool, not people
Gold Member
Silver Member
gulfportdoc said:
Thanks, Jay. I often wondered about the transition from Hyd & Western to the new locale.

Do you know when Tiff Payne's room, North Hollywood Billiards, closed? It was on Magnolia in N. Hyd near the freeway. It had pool and snooker in the front; 10-12 billiard tables in back.

Doc

It is still open! It's basically a Three Cushion room with about 6-8 real nice tables. They have a few tight Gold Crowns out front.
 

KCarson1

Diebold-2008 Pres Results
Silver Member
SJDinPHX said:
Your Dad is correct, my goof, The old Golden Cue was at 19th ave and
Camelback. Jack Levine sold it to Jimmy Farkis who worked for him.
Jimmy lost his lease at that location and moved it to 35th and Camelback
in the early 80's Good action there for about 15 years.Jimmy sold it to
a guy who promptly went under. It's been closed for a few years now.
Felt I owed you an explanation. The Golden 8 Ball was on Indian School
Rd about a mile away. "I thought I made a mistake once...but I was wrong"
Mark Twain.

Dick

Thank you Dick. Thats the place of my fathers misspent youth or so he says:) .
 

SJDinPHX

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
KCarson1 said:
Thank you Dick. Thats the place of my fathers misspent youth or so he says:) .
Then in all likelyhood I knew your father because thats where I misspent
A good part of my second childhood.
 

SJDinPHX

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
catpool9 said:
Wasn't there a pool room in Dallas,Tx, long, long time ago called "Times Square"?.....i'm 49 and to young to have ever been in that one, but seems like i've heard players talk of it.


David Harcrow
David, you are correct, Times Square inherited everyone from the
Cotton Palace when they got shut down. Upstairs with a good bar
right below it. Rougher crowd, rougher neighborhood than the CP
but lots of action. I'm pretty sure it no longer exists. Some wild
adventures in those days.
Dick
 

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Costa Mesa Hard Times 1977

I'm sure Jay has some good stories about this place. 8-Ball Charlie? I went in there probably 1978 got a game with Kieth'er he gave me the wild 8, we were playin' two shot shootout...$300 a set. I beat him the first set, race to 11. Second set he had me 10-7..he rolled out a long rail bank, I took the shot...made it..ran the set out...he quit, WHY, no more post money. They way he played in the second set was scary...when he stepped into a shot I could tell it was already in the hole, spot shots were a cinch too him, the way he played was like Louie Roberts but...better. I'm very lucky he ran out of dough, I knew I couldn't win after the second set, but back then I wouldn't of quit winner, I would at least lost $300 but you never know, could of been more, his pocketing power was scary once he got rollin'.
 

jnav447

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great thread, SJD. I never met you, but you were the stuff of legend and I heard so many stories about you that I felt I knew you. I hung out at Duke's in San Jose in the early 70's, going up to Cochran's and the Palace on the weekends to get wamboozled. Some of the characters I remember are Redwood City Shorty (hell of a poker player), Al the plumber, Denny, Philipino Gene, Sunnyvale Gary (scored at pool and donated it to the track), the midge brothers, Cole, Bucktooth, Tracy Joe, Bear (crazzzzzy), Texas Max, Pros Lopez, et al. Though The Rack in Detroit is the number one action joint ever, I saw a match in Chinatown in The City that was mind-boggling. I ran with the Kitazumi brothers and they smuggled me into an asian room in North Beach; all asians and me. A real good player named Dalton was playing another asian guy 9ball for 20,000 a game and the side action was at least double or triple that. Every asian zillionaire in the Bay Area was there (and there were/are a lot of them) and betting like only asians can (they ALL bet til they're broke or you're broke). They said this kind of action went on all the time, but no one knew about it cuz they kept everything to themselves (smart people). Funny thing was, I got paid a hundred to be a bodyguard and I guarantee that I couldn't have handled anyone in the joint; looked like a Jet Li/John Woo collaberation in there. How I lived through those years is a mystery.
 

thebigdog

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jnav447 said:
Great thread, SJD. I never met you, but you were the stuff of legend and I heard so many stories about you that I felt I knew you. I hung out at Duke's in San Jose in the early 70's, going up to Cochran's and the Palace on the weekends to get wamboozled. Some of the characters I remember are Redwood City Shorty (hell of a poker player), Al the plumber, Denny, Philipino Gene, Sunnyvale Gary (scored at pool and donated it to the track), the midge brothers, Cole, Bucktooth, Tracy Joe, Bear (crazzzzzy), Texas Max, Pros Lopez, et al. Though The Rack in Detroit is the number one action joint ever, I saw a match in Chinatown in The City that was mind-boggling. I ran with the Kitazumi brothers and they smuggled me into an asian room in North Beach; all asians and me. A real good player named Dalton was playing another asian guy 9ball for 20,000 a game and the side action was at least double or triple that. Every asian zillionaire in the Bay Area was there (and there were/are a lot of them) and betting like only asians can (they ALL bet til they're broke or you're broke). They said this kind of action went on all the time, but no one knew about it cuz they kept everything to themselves (smart people). Funny thing was, I got paid a hundred to be a bodyguard and I guarantee that I couldn't have handled anyone in the joint; looked like a Jet Li/John Woo collaberation in there. How I lived through those years is a mystery.

Did you ever happen to play out in Stockton back in those days? My grandfather used to own the room there and most all the players you mentioned had come through there.
 

avmaster

Man of Reason
Gold Member
Silver Member
Gone South..........

jnav447 said:
Great thread, SJD. I never met you, but you were the stuff of legend and I heard so many stories about you that I felt I knew you. I hung out at Duke's in San Jose in the early 70's, going up to Cochran's and the Palace on the weekends to get wamboozled. Some of the characters I remember are Redwood City Shorty (hell of a poker player), Al the plumber, Denny, Philipino Gene, Sunnyvale Gary (scored at pool and donated it to the track), the midge brothers, Cole, Bucktooth, Tracy Joe, Bear (crazzzzzy), Texas Max, Pros Lopez, et al. Though The Rack in Detroit is the number one action joint ever, I saw a match in Chinatown in The City that was mind-boggling. I ran with the Kitazumi brothers and they smuggled me into an asian room in North Beach; all asians and me. A real good player named Dalton was playing another asian guy 9ball for 20,000 a game and the side action was at least double or triple that. Every asian zillionaire in the Bay Area was there (and there were/are a lot of them) and betting like only asians can (they ALL bet til they're broke or you're broke). They said this kind of action went on all the time, but no one knew about it cuz they kept everything to themselves (smart people). Funny thing was, I got paid a hundred to be a bodyguard and I guarantee that I couldn't have handled anyone in the joint; looked like a Jet Li/John Woo collaberation in there. How I lived through those years is a mystery.[/QUOTE]

Naw, not a mystery, same way I did.......:rolleyes: God takes care of Drunks and Fools.............:D
 

jnav447

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
thebigdog said:
Did you ever happen to play out in Stockton back in those days? My grandfather used to own the room there and most all the players you mentioned had come through there.
Hi. Only went to Stockton once with a few buddies to check out the pool action. We stopped in a bar there, got tangled up with some primo Fat City girls, their boxer boyfriends came in, took the heat, and a brawl broke out. The cops told us to leave and not come back, and we didn't. Wow... memory lane's got a few potholes iin it.
 

PIRANHA

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Early Kansas City...
Downtown ,Benny Allens, never played much there.

Isis, Where Don McCaugh played, Larma King, George Welch, Eddie Ryan

Maywood Rec., Happy Yeager, ....Maybe ,Don Decoy's last game,Detroit Whitey, The great Willie played Happy Yeager there once and didn't like it(got mad).lol

Raytown Rec. Everyone that came throught played here.Keith Mc Cready stayed here for some time, Jay Swanson won $72,000.00 from a local, biggest game heard of. LES
 

SJDinPHX

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jay helfert said:
Dick, I arrived in 1967. I had missed the glory years of The Wonder Bowl and the Krooked Kue on Crenshaw. I only heard stories about these places.

I ventured into Tropicana in late '67 and met up with Kenny Anderson. After he drubbed me I didn't want to go back. I did return to see Jimmy Moore fleece Cy Young winner Dean Chance and his running mate Bo Belinsky. Jimmy was giving up the 3,5,7,9 and the break! That's all!

Jay, Bo and Dean used to stop in the Le cue in Houston when they were in town. They backed me against a guy we both know. (top player)I have to avoid names here, because the ensuing party afterwards involved Mamie Van Doren and my opponent. It's a great pool story, and I will tell it to you this weekend at the Desert Dust-off, or via PM
 
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SJDinPHX

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Jay, Bo and Dean used to stop in the Le cue in Houston, when they were in town.. I used to do some serious partying with them !.. They backed me against a guy we both know. (top player)
I have to avoid names here, because the ensuing party afterwards involved Mamie Van Doren and my opponent. It's a great pool story, and I will tell it to you this weekend at the Desert Dust-off, or via PM

Heres an old thread with some great content..Its OK to tell my story now, as most of the principle's are pushing up daisies ;) The player I was playing, was Greg (or Craig if you prefer) Steven's..Greg was not big on partying, or skirt-chasing either, for that matter, thats what makes the story so funny !

Bo and Dean were hosting a big party (drunk) at the Rice hotel..We were both invited..Greg would not have come, but he was broke, and on the hunt for fresh stake money !..It seems Ms. Van Doren, developed a case of the 'hots' for Mr Steven's.. Greg would not even give her the time of day !

I came to know Mamie quite well over the years, and looker that she was, she was also a lush, and a first class tramp !.. Anyway, her persistence finally weakened Greg, and I let them use my adjoining room, for their tryst !..Long story short, they didn't lock the door..and Bo went in my room looking for me, and caught them 'red-handed' !

Bo made several more trips to Houston after that, but that was the last time I ever saw him with the floozy again..I guess it was the end of their romance..I guess the reason I find this so amusing is, that every time Bo and I got together after that, he would always bring up that night !.. I really believe he felt I had something to do with what happened ! :eek:

Lots of funnier stuff in this thread..Check it out ! :)
 
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Tahoedirt

Tahoedirt
Congrats on a great thread Roy, (Road trip USA,,Pool halls that must be visited)
Please allow the old guys to digress, I sincerely wish all of the younger guys,
who joined in your thread, could have experienced some of the old rooms that
were around before most of them were just a gleam in their father?s eye.
I?ve been in most of them, but time has a way of eroding your memory.
I?m going to ask the older guys to chime in with some of their favorites.
The standout places,for me, all had one thing in common. Good lighting, good
Equipment and wall to wall action. The obvious places, such as Bensinger?s,
Seven Eleven, Amsterdams were all great venues. But how about ? The Rathole?
on Woodward ave. in Detroit, or Peter Pan billiards in SLC, or the gem of them
all, Cochran?s in San Francisco? (Listen to Ronnie Allen describe Cochran?s in
his recent audio tapes) There was no place on earth like the boom years of the
50?s 60?s and 70?s in San Francisco. I hope some of the old timers on here will
respond with some of their favorites.
(sorry guys, all my apostrophes turn to question marks when I hit
submit. Dont know how to fix it?????)
I spent lots of time playing and hanging at Cochran’s. Tidbit- Before Cole Dickson was old enough to drive, I rode him over there several times. I loved this place- Walking up those old wood stairs and opening the doors was like entering a movie set.
 
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